HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Bartolo Colon looks to be getting back on
track. The same cannot be said for Shane Reynolds.

Colon pitched five-plus scoreless innings before getting ejected
and the Cleveland Indians roughed up an ineffective Reynolds en
route to a 10-4 rout of the Houston Astros.

Coming off one of his strongest outings of the season in a
victory at Cincinnati, Colon (8-7) had little trouble shutting
down another National League Central Division opponent.

The hard-throwing righthander allowed only a two-out double to
Daryle Ward in the fifth. He walked one and struck out four in
improving to 7-1 in nine road starts this season.

Colon drew the wrath of plate umpire Andy Fletcher and was
ejected in the bottom of the sixth after throwing his first
pitch of the inning over the head of Scott Servais.

"He (Fletcher) said he threw the ball by his head and that's an
automatic ejection," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "He
had to do it. But the ball missed his head by three feet, he
said. But I thought it almost tipped the bat. He said, `Nobody
else saw that.' That goes to show you that I'm better than he
is."

"I don't know why they took me out," Colon said through an
interpreter. "But I was trying to throw inside and the ball
slipped out of my hand. If I want to hit somebody, I could hit
them anytime I want to. Yes, I have to protect my teammates,
but on this occasion I wasn't doing that."

In the top of the sixth, Astros rookie Jim Mann, who was
recalled from the minor leagues earlier in the day, hit Juan
Gonzalez and Marty Cordova, prompting both benches to be warned.

Gonzalez left with a bruised left hand, but X-rays were
negative.

Reynolds (8-9) endured another nighthmarish outing, getting
ripped for eight runs and 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings. The veteran
righthander has lost his last four starts and been shelled for
15 runs over 10 innings in his last two outings.

"Reynolds is struggling. Everything he's throwing is up,"
Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "If we take a look at the
tape, it will show that. They hit some good stuff, too.
Cleveland is a team that can do that to you."

Jim Thome, Cordova and Travis Fryman each knocked in two runs
for Cleveland, which stopped a three-game losing streak.

Houston's Moises Alou singled in the sixth inning, extending his
hitting streak to 22 games. It is the longest streak in the NL
this season, surpassing teammate Lance Berkman by one game.

It was a struggle from the outset for Reynolds, who allowed a
one-out double to Jolbert Cabrera and a bunt single to Roberto
Alomar in the opening inning. After Alomar stole second,
Gonzalez lofted a sacrifice fly and Thome laced an RBI single
for a 2-0 lead.

Reynolds retired the side in order in the second and set down
the first two batters in the third before his struggles
returned. Consecutive doubles by Gonzalez and Thome plated a
run. Cordova delivered an RBI single and Fryman doubled him
home, extending the lead to 5-0.

"I'm just in a rut. I'm leaving the ball up," Reynolds said. "I
don't think it's anything mechanical, I'm just making bad
pitches. When you're in a funk, things tend to snowball."

Reynolds did not make it out of the sixth, when the Indians
pushed across five more runs.

Kenny Lofton belted his seventh homer with one out. Cabrera
tripled to the right-center field gap and Alomar doubled for a
7-0 advantage.

Mann, who made two appearances for the New York Mets last
season, relieved and immediately made things interesting by
hitting Gonzalez in the left hand. After walking Thome, he
drilled Cordova with a pitch to force in another run. Fryman
capped the inning with a two-run single up the middle.

After Colon was ejected to start the sixth, the Astros pushed
across three runs against Steve Woodard. Craig Biggio and Alou
had RBI singles and Julio Lugo doubled in a run.

Vinny Castilla produced the Astros' final run with an RBI single
in the ninth.